Vagina Monologues at The Victoria Hall
Review of The Vagina Monologues at The Victoria Hall
Review of Alexandria 2.0
Review of Alexandria 2.0
At The Victoria Hall Fremantle
FOUR STARS
If you could create a soundtrack to accompany your favourite book, what would it sound like?
Steve McCall and David Phillip Richardson used this question to create a genre-defying fusion of literature and sound to tantalise the senses and ignite curiosity in their show Alexandria 2.0. The entire room at The Victoria Hall was used as part of the performance, with a multi-media screen at the back and McCall and Richardson onstage. The lights played an important role, creating a dream-like ambience as they swept from the front to the back of the room - directing the audience where to look next. Most of the seating faced the stage, but there were lush red velvet couches at the back which also faced the screen.
The show’s beginning was a little wishy-washy, with blurred multi-media illustrating the story The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Visually it didn’t hold up. The music was layered and melodic, but neither the screen or the performers were interesting to watch, so the story didn’t entirely land in terms of impact. However, as the stories progressed, the music, story-telling and multi-media worked together more synergistically, and grew in power and affect.
The soundscape for Tomorrow When The War Began – a dystopian Australian novel by John Marsden was evocative and emotionally redolent, with hypnotic beats and driving guitar creating a sense of tension and impending doom. The ambient sounds of percussion and samples evoked a sense of fear, love and the precariousness of existence, but again the multimedia visuals were a little weak and didn’t do justice to the music or the samples from the book.
The multi-media was effective though, in Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. This was a powerful and evocative riff on poverty, with driving rock guitar and ominous beats providing the soundtrack to compelling voice overs from the book on the nature of poverty. The multi-media was a broken down urban wasteland made up of abandoned, neglected buildings and abandoned, neglected people. It was a potent comment on the ongoing suffering of the poor and the capitalist system that seeks to keep them oppressed.
The synergy continued with On The Road by Jack Kerouac. Kerouac’s stream of consciousness writing was heavily influenced by experimental jazz, so it was at first disappointing that McCall and Richardson did not speak to this in their soundscape (although there was a hint of it in the gentle brush back beat). They also chose to use an Australian accent for the text voice over and mostly Australian landscapes in the multimedia. The sweeping images of the road moving through wide open Australian landscapes combined with the voice-over urging us not to look back but ever onward, and another driving, rock-based soundscape evoked a heady sense of freedom, adventure and connection to the land. I’m not sure Kerouac would have approved of the artists displacing the book from his beloved America, but the piece worked, because the Australian road and surrounding landscape is just as mythic (think Mad Max) and evocative if not more so, than America.
Each track from this point on grew in potency and power, and the sound/visual extravaganza became really exciting with Neuromancer – the cyberpunk masterpiece by William Gibson. Phillip Richardson’s multi-media utilised images of cyber humans, laser lights and a futuristic cyber landscape which beautifully complimented the foreboding electronica sound track and evocative samples from the book. This was a dynamic and immersive experience where sound, light, image and text all came together to create a bold, brave science fiction experience. An added highlight was the appearance of a mysterious woman high up in the stalls, who lip synced to strange machine noises before breaking into song. Her appearance met a need in this reviewer for one more ingredient in the mix – bodies in the space.
Combining the richness of great literature with emotionally resonant contemporary soundscapes, Alexandria 2.0 transports the audience to a myriad of worlds and sensually redolent experiences. This is a unique, innovative and immersive experience for audiences which utilises pace, tension, drama and emotion to great affect. High praise must go to McCall and Richardson for their bold vision and for executing such an ambitious concept with skill and flair.
Review of Vincent
Written by and starring Alan King.
FIVE STARS
Vincent is a film like no other. It defies categorisation and stands alone as a truly unique work of art. Written, performed and edited by Alan King, it’s a psychological character study of a brilliant and tortured artist trying to navigate his way through friendship, fame, success, substance abuse and his own precarious mental health.
Vincent is a troubled man who retreats to his parents’ shack in the bush after a break up due mainly to his alcoholism. As a strange outsider and loner, he’s mocked by the small-minded people from the town nearby. He befriends another strange loner, encounters a ‘beast’ one night in the woods, whose violent attack scares him into sobriety, and from his sobriety he begins to write a novel. Four months later, after biting off and swallowing his own tongue, and mysteriously losing an eye at the hands of ‘the beast’, his novel wins a national literary prize, obtains a top literary agent and Vincent embarks on a national tour which draws him back into a life of hedonism, self-destruction and emotional fragility.
Alan King delivers a fascinating and deeply compelling performance as Vincent. His immersion into his character invites the viewer to step in to his very strange, internal world. There are hints of violence and psychosis in Vincent’s psychological make up, but he is also incredibly sweet and vulnerable, and there’s a depth to King’s characterisation that one only sees in people who have undergone deep suffering.
There’s also plenty of ambiguity in Vincent to keep people guessing. Edited in surreal jump cuts and freeze frames that suggest a fragmented psyche and a tenuous grip on reality, the audience is left to question if the beast is real or is it Vincent’s violent alter ego? Is the success and book tour real or is he delusional? Are any of the characters he meets real or are they all just aspects of his psyche? Vincent asks more questions than it answers, but rather than being obscure and difficult to understand it is fascinating and compelling.
The unusual editing and peculiarity of King’s performance, combined with quirky improvised scenes with the other characters, create a screen world like no other – in which the line between fantasy and reality is blurred and the viewer is constantly questioning what is the truth…much like a person suffering from an extreme mental health condition would do.
The title, along with the loss of eye and tongue refer to the deeply troubled and equally brilliant Vincent Van Gogh. No other references are drawn, but it is a nod to the trope of the tortured artist and the many parallels between genius and insanity that can be found throughout the arts.
King credits David Lynch, Jean Luc Goddard, Lars von Trier and Stanley Kubrick as his great influences and Vincent certainly shows shades of Lynch and Von Trier, but it has a dark thread of comedy running through it that gives it more absurdism and humor than Von Trier’s work. King also used many of Von Trier’s Dogme films principles to shoot his film. Vincent was shot in one week and only a handful of locations, using mostly natural light, a micro crew and handheld camera. The result is a remarkably free film that bursts with creativity and holds together beautifully despite its lack of narrative structure. The strength and power all comes down to King’s deeply authentic performance and the unusual editing which holds the delicate threads of the film together like an intricately woven spider web.
Vincent has all the makings of an Australian cult classic. It’s intelligent, quirky, unique, finely observed and beautifully performed. Fingers crossed this wonderful film will get a national and international distribution deal soon. Props to King, his producer wife Angela Ling and his terrific team for creating such a fascinating, darkly humorous and unique film.
Vincent is currently screening at The Galactic Imaginarium (Romania), Santiago Horror Festival (Chile), Montevideo Fantastico Film Festival (Uruguay) and Callela Film Festival Spain. Alan King was nominated Best Actor for Vincent at the recent Septimius Awards in Amsterdam.
Review of 'What About Sal'
THREE AND A HALF STARS
Sal (Gerard O’Dwyer) has Down Syndrome. He’s in his 30s, lives with his Mum Sophie in inner city Sydney and enjoys a happy, carefree life with some great friendships. Then suddenly his Mum (Kaarin Fairfax) falls sick and is taken to hospital. She’s diagnosed with lung cancer and hasn’t got long to live. Sal is faced with the tough choice of finding his father or having to move into a group home. He embarks on a mission to find his Dad, armed only with the information that he was a singer in a rock band in the 80s.
What About Sal is written, produced, directed by and stars Aussie icon John Jarratt. It is Jarratt’s second foray into writing and directing, and his big-hearted compassion for his subject matter shines through in every aspect of this little Aussie gem. His direction coaxes terrific performances out of his actors - Kaarin Fairfax delivers a beautifully modulated performance as Gerard’s Mum. She inhabits her character with a lovely natural authenticity and warmth. Her performance is emotionally charged, and each screen moment is imbued with a deep and abiding love for her child. Her grief and helplessness in anticipation of her impending death is heartbreaking to witness and will resonate with anyone faced with their own mortality or the loss of a child.
Gerard O’Dwyer is the undisputed star of the movie. His performance beautifully captures the complex emotions Sal experiences as he navigates the urgency of his situation, his quest to find his father and his grief and fear over the impending loss of his mother. His big heartedness is the quality that shines through, and the bond between O’Dwyer and Jarratt carries a ring of truth that is really touching.
Jarratt plays Sal’s alcoholic father. He begins his journey in the film as a belligerent drunk who’s encounter with his long-lost son triggers a radical transformation of his character. At times the transformation is a little too neat and easy, and it seemed that while Jarrett did a terrific job directing the other actors, he could have done with an outside eye to guide him with his own performance. His Deadbeat Dad came across as a little two-dimensional, and it was difficult to believe that such a nasty man and rotten drunk could so quickly transform to become a kind, loving and responsible father to Sal.
Nevertheless, What About Sal tells an important story about an issue that faces every parent of a disabled child and every disabled adult trying to live with independence and self-determination. If audiences can suspend their disbelief, it's a heart warming story, told with warmth, humor and charm.
Review of After Frankenstein and Ugly Sisters
Review of Cruel Brittanica – After Frankenstein and Ugly Sisters
Two of the most innovative, powerful and mind-bending shows I’ve seen this Edinburgh Fringe have been created by trans women. Each play showcases theatre-makers on the cutting edge of theatre practice who are pushing their ideas and performance into bold, unchartered territory. Both riff around a text (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Germaine Greer’s On Why Sex Change is a Lie.) Both invite their audience to get right inside the trans experience, and both are an exhilarating, wild ride.
Cruel Brittania – After Frankenstein
Written and performed by Kirsten Smyth
FOUR STARS
Freaks they call us Frank. Freaks!
Cruel Brittania – After Frankenstein, written and performed by Kristen Smyth, is a reimagining of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Smyth uses the text to take us on a gothic journey from the drugs, clubs and toxic masculinity of 80s London to their recent gender reassignment surgery. Using Frankenstein’s monster as a metaphor for the fear, loathing and rejection they experienced as a trans woman, (and also their internalised transphobia) we witness them transform from tough, alpha male Frank to the fragile, delicate Ruby.
Smyth’s depiction of wide boy South London Frank is utterly compelling. Acid house music from the 80s plays as they don a sharp suit and swagger around the stage, dangerous and commanding with their steely gaze, their alpha swagger, tough South London accent and banter, ‘I like it. The smell of money. My money. I got fingers in pies. In all kinds of places. I like a bit of a scrap on the weekend. I got to get something out of my system.’ Smyth’s writing and performance pops with attitude and a smouldering aggression.
By contrast, Ruby is fragile and unsure of herself. ‘For the next five hours I’m handing out tickets. ‘That’ll be 50p. At the coat check. It’s a life of sweeping moments of magic, and here they don’t look at me funny.’ At times her character seems spectral – as though she’s struggling to exist. She’s like a shadow…a wisp of smoke in the wake of Frank’s visceral power.
The script veers from Frank’s experience to Ruby’s. Before long, Frank is deteriorating into a drug stupor and Ruby is homeless and selling her body, wearing the stigma and shame of Frankenstein’s monster like a cloak. But, as with Frankenstein’s monster there are moments of connection that get her through. The final scene – a masterful blending of Frankenstein’s monster with Smyth’s real-life experience, is utterly thrilling.
Before Frankenstein is cleverly directed by Blank Space Production’s Cohan and has been commissioned to perform at the prestigious Arts Centre in Melbourne in November this year. This Edinburgh Fringe run is a warm up for the big professional season and a chance for Edinburgh audiences to witness the birth of a great piece of theatre. The production is not without its flaws – Smyth needs to work more on developing Ruby’s character – she’s a little weak and ill-defined compared to Frank, and it was at times confusing knowing who Smyth was playing, but with a little more character work and polish, this has all the makings of compelling theatre. It’s the type of theatre that stays with you long after you’ve left the theatre.
41/2 stars
Cruel Brittania – After Frankenstein performs at The Arts Centre Melbourne in November 2024
Ugly Sisters
By Lauri Ward and Charli Cowgill
Piss/CARNATION
FOUR STARS
“On the day that Female Eunich was issued in America, a person in flapping draperies rushed up to me and grabbed my hand. ‘Thank you so much for what you’ve done for us girls.’ I should have said ‘You’re a man. Female Eunich has done nothing for you. Piss off.”
So begins, ‘Ugly Sisters’, an absurd examination of the ugly tract written by Germaine Greer in 1989 called ‘On Why Sex Change is a Lie’. Developed and performed by award-winning duo Lauri Ward and Charli Cowgill, it riffs around the meeting of Greer and the trans woman, with increasingly bizarre performance art.
It opens with Charli performing the speech dressed as Greer, while Ward, outlandishly dressed as the trans woman in green taffeta, a pink balaclava, nipple tassles, a blonde wig and over-sized plastic lips on her mouth. She chases Greer around the stage with a leaf blower before knocking her to the ground, then invites audience members to come on stage and sprinkle dirt on her before delivering a curious eulogy.
This hallucinatory piece of performance art breaks new ground in queer theatre making, pushing the audience into all sorts of uncomfortable places, and inviting us to abandon all previous notions of what theatre and gender should be. Greer is murdered, buried and resurrected. She engages in a battle of power with the transwoman, where each one has a turn at gaining the upper hand before reconciling in a sensual, revelatory finale which is absolutely riveting.
Ward and Cowgill’s company piss/CARNATION won the Fringe First award last year with their 52 Monologues for Young Transexuals, and Ugly Sisters cements them as theatre makers to watch. Their approach to theatre making is bold, fresh and utterly fearless. This ground-breaking show defiantly ushers in a brave new world of agency and power for trans people, and invites audiences to step outside the gender binary. It is also a confident rejection of feminist trans-phobia.
4 stars
Ugly Sisters performs at The New Diorama Theatre, London 6-20 September
Review of Star Goon, Carlos Pandanus and Tomas Ford
Star Goon Stickers $5 each
FOUR STARS
Two weeks back from Edinburgh Fringe and Fremantle delivered a gig to rival the weirdest shit Culture Vulture witnessed at Edinburgh. It was the debut performance of psych influenced space core duo Star Goon at The Buffalo Club in Fremantle, and they invited their equally weird mates Carlos Pandanus and Tomas Ford along to support them. Carlos Pandanus opened, dressed as an Oompa Loompa, with his clothes on backwards, playing some heavy beats and spacy vocals with his voice set to chipmunk. Ian Macleod as Carlos Pandanus is a seasoned and hilarious performer who’s been appearing on the Freo indie music scene for over twenty years in various different punk/techno outfits. The music and production values for his songs were no great shakes but for entertainment value he got a ten out of ten for irreverent shits and giggles, and he was a great warm up for Star Goon who were up next.
Star Goon are vocalist/flautist Sunny Floyd and Shayne O’Neill - former guitarist from punk bands Fuzz Bucket, Spock Fonzies and Accelerators. They’ve produced two albums (The Gift and Small Explosions) with a third to be released next year. Star Goon is like the love child of Ziggy Stardust and Devendra Banhardt, with a Unicorn thrown in for good measure. Sunny Floyd delivered a beautifully weird performance, dressed like a psychedelic Telly Tubby, as she peered out at us with a demented glint in her eyes and sang hallucinatory vocals about space moths, barflys and moonbeams on Jupiter. Her voice was distorted and vocals were trippy and drawn out - not unlike Nico in The Velvet Underground. Definitely the kind of sounds you’d expect from die hard Freo hippies, but these guys were no cliché. This was genre-defying space rock that would have made Ziggy Stardust proud.
Floyd’s flute supported the dreamy space cake ambience and O’Neill brought some fast, furious psychedelic rock guitar to the mix. It was hallucinatory, insane and hilarious. The duo were clearly having a ball test driving their new material and they had some fun Space Goon merch pictured.
Next up, living legend Tomas Ford brought in his new act as a gay cowboy playing punked up country music on his ukelele, with his usual anarchic brand of rage and comedy. The last time Culture Vulture saw Tomas he was dressed as a Cub Scout singing songs around the campfire and making damper at Hidden Treasures. The time before he was doing a one man show about being diagnosed with ADHD and fighting all the time with his missus. Since then, he broke up with said missus, came out as gay, and fully embraced his gayness by adjusting his performance dial to Queer As F*ck. I won’t give away the revealing finale but let's just say Ford is one of the most outrageous performers in Perth and he didn’t disappoint.
Star Goon then did their final set which was even better than their first. Floyd delivered an operatic song that soared to Mars and back. Floaty and ethereal, she drew the audience in with her supernatural charm. It was a deep, contemplative moment in which time stood still and everyone got lifted. I don’t know whether the drinks were spiked or Star Goon really do have transcendent powers, but there was a whole lot of trippy magic going on at The Buffalo Club and the audience spilled out transformed by the experience.
Review of Renfield